The Collector

idiots the lot of you you are all wrong trent is trying to tell us that he is starting a stamp collecting club and he is inviting all of you to join he is an avid stamp collector deal with it

The version of the song with "I'm building something bigger than the whole fucking world I'm building something terrible" can be found at http://www.ninlive.com/nin_rehearsal

this was only sang in rehearsals and possibly live but was not recorded on the cd that way, obviously.

Kind of like Trent Reznor dealing with fans, if you will.

This poor bastard is the fellow everyone talks to when they're beat or down. He's a great listener, and he really cares. There's just one little problem-- this guy's feeling even lower than all his drama-ridden friends, and nobody even notices. Even if they tried to help, he wouldn't listen; after all, he's chosen to make a Hell of Heaven in his own mind. Talk about the loony confessing the insane! His friends' dramas are perpetual, and he's just the sort to worry about it all. It beats the hell out of paying attention to his own hurts, doing what he can to fix them. I know this because I just lived through this. Kindness to others is the only way out.

Not sure about these lyrics, I don't hear the "I'm building something bigger than the whole fucking world...I'm building something terrible" in the song, and the bridge into the first chorus is actually :

There are times, plenty of times I wish I could let it go They start to breathe, and they start to grow inside me There are times, plenty of times I wish I could let it go But they start to make me think things I don't wanna know

Yes. ab0ve is exactly right. Take out that part about the buildings, because it\'s nowhere to be found in the song. Also, replace the bridge like he said, it\'s wrong.

This song isn't that great i must say, but it does sound messy= DS era :)

At first, I must say, I did not enjoy this song at all. Then I started listening to the lyrics.

It seems to me that the song is talking about a man who feels the need to take on everyone else's problems and make them his own. He doesn't like it, but it's just how he's made.

It might be just how I'm feeling right now, but I immediately identified with this song. Lately I've felt the need to be there for these people in my life that have so many problems; I feel the need to make each person's life better, as if I can somehow affect the outcome of their situation no matter how large and untouchable it may be. The lines talking about these things accumulating behind him, picking up feelings for him to feed upon... totally make sense to me.

This song is about someone who feels the need that he has to deal with other peoples problems and handle everything for them, as if they can't do it on their own. Kind of like a superman if you will.

i could kind of agree with maxwell here. only i think the main theme is really more about dealing with disgust in a larger sense (life, friends, the world in general). "i'm trying to fit it all inside i'm trying to open my mouth wide i'm trying not to choke and swallow it all..."